In this post, I would like to take a slight departure to offer a great big thanks to the 2010-11 American Marketing Association, Oklahoma City Chapter (AMAOKC) president Brian Blake and his team for all the remarkable value they are bringing to the OKC market and to the marketing profession! I have been a dues paying member of this innovative organization for over 16 years and have never been more excited to be a part of all the exciting stuff that is going on.

In addition to proving himself to be an effective leader and motivator as president of the AMAOKC, Brian is gaining quite a reputation in the national scene as a social media strategist!

Next time, I’ll tell you the exclusive secret behind exactly HOW he’s doing it and how you and I can profit from his methodology, too!

For a market to exist, 3 factors must be met (there is a fourth that some authors like to throw in, but we won’t worry about that here).

There must first be a need or desire for the product. Potential customers must see some inherent value in the offer being made. They have to imagine how this product will somehow benefit them.

The second thing that must be present is the potential customer has to have the ability to pay for that which we’re offering.

The third is that there has to be a willingness of the potential customer to use their money to pay for that which we’re offering.

So the basic factors that must be present for a market to exist are need or desire for, ability to pay for, and the willingness to pay for, whatever we’re offering. Once we determine that, we get busy telling our value story in the most compelling way using the most effective means of reaching those customers. It’s not easy, but it is that simple.